Pettyjohn – Case Study
Miss Martinez – 1st Grade
Animals Unit
Background:
Miss Martinez has successfully presented this unit on animals to her first grade students
in the past. This year she would like to take advantage of the school’s technology to
make her unit more interesting and appealing to the students. She would like students
to be more involved a take a more active role in this unit. Her goal is for students to pick
a zoo animal, find interesting facts about the animal and present to the class with a slide
presentation. Of her 20 students, two have severe dyslexia. Appropriate drivers, plugins, interfaces, Web browsers and operating software for available hardware are already
correctly installed on all classroom computers. A computer lab with Internet accessibility
and networked printers are available. Also, 30 wireless notebook computers with
Internet access are available for check out.
Three Additional Technologies:
I will suggest to Miss Martinez that she uses the 30 wireless notebook computers that
are available to her. In addition to these, the three technologies I have chosen to
suggest to her and why are as follows:
1. Projection Device – If Miss Martinez wants her students to present their work to
their classmates, she must have a projection device. With this device and with
the use of her computer or the students’ laptops, she can project their
presentations onto the wall/screen/board. With this, students will then be able to
show their work to their classmates. They will also be able to talk about each
slide of their presentation and show images to all other students to help with
understanding of that animal.
2. Concept Mapping Software – Concept Mapping software should be used to
assist students in organizing their research and facts over their animal. For the
students with dyslexia, these maps can be completed either with words or even
drawings. Many forms of concept mapping software comes with spell checker to
assist the dyslexia students. Concept Mapping Software will assist all students to
create a logical flow in their information about their animal. By having an idea of
what facts they want to include in their presentation and which ones are the most
important, students will be more prepared to put this information into a
presentation.
3. Presentation Software – If students are to present their work to their fellow
classmates, presentation software such as MS PowerPoint is vital for the
success of this project. With presentation software, students will be able to insert
pictures into their presentations, type their animal facts on each slide and they
can add interest to their presentations using text, sound and animation. When
students are excited about their presentation, they will do better when it comes to
presenting their findings to the class. Current presentation software also has
spell check for those students that need help with spelling – not just the dyslexic
ones.
Planning and Evaluating Students:
To guide and support Miss Martinez in planning the lesson and then evaluating the work
of the students, I would first set up a meeting with her. In this meeting we would look at
her lesson plan that she has used in the past and we would discuss the goals she
wanted to reach by using technology. When these goals have been established, I would
offer suggestions to her based on her needs. Miss Martinez has already very
successfully used this lesson plan before. By integrating technology, I would first want
to make sure she was comfortable with the technology devices that I suggest to her.
Based on her answers, I would change my recommendations so that she feels
comfortable. My first piece of advice to her would be to create an example of what she
wants from her students and to add concept mapping to their objectives for the project.
My second piece of advice would be to look at putting students in pairs for this project
so that students can work together and assist one another. The dyslexic students
should be paired with students that the teacher knows would happily work together and
support one another.
For evaluation of the students, a rubric is always important. Not only should the final
work and presentation be graded but the students should also have periodic deadlines
to assist them while they are completing their project. I would suggest this because it
would also help Miss Martinez identify any students that are falling behind or need
additional help. If these two types of software are new to her students, she must give
them time to practice on the software and teach it to them in guided practice before she
lets them work on their own. A participation grade for these practice exercises would be
helpful. I would suggest for the students to also have grades on their images of the
animal, concept mapping, their actual presentation file, and their presentation in front of
the class. These different deadlines and assignments will help her easily gauge
understanding of her students.
Implementation:
To support and guide Miss Martinez in her implementation of technology integration, I
would offer her individual time where she could try out the software and play with it
while I was with her. I would also show her how to properly install and work a projection
device. I would ask to meet with her at least two weeks before she decided to do the
project so that I could help her with any problems or concerns she might have. I would
also offer examples of concept mapping in education and on presentations done by
younger students. To further help her, I would offer assistance in her classroom on the
days she gives introductions to the software to her students. If she felt comfortable on
her own, I would simply ask her to contact me if she needed help at all. I would try to be
on hand when she uses the projection device because it can be frustrating for anyone
when it messes up and doesn’t project the way we want it to.
Evaluating Integration:
I would politely ask Miss Martinez if I could observe her students using the technology
that she decides to integrate. I would explain to her that I am not there to watch or
observe her; I just want to see how the students respond to the technology. I never want
any teachers to think that I am somehow judging them when it is my responsibility to
support them. After the lesson and presentations have been concluded, I would have
another meeting with Miss Martinez to reflect on her lesson and her students. I would
specifically ask her how she felt about the technology that she used and if she felt as if
her goals for the lesson where achieved. It is always important to determine the benefits
of technology and the downfalls of it so that in the future, Miss Martinez can adjust her
lesson to where it meets her goals better. I would inquire about the software and if the
ones that were chosen were easy for her to introduce to her students and if the students
used them successfully. I would also ask her about the support I gave her and if there
was something I could have done to make the experience better or easier for her. After
our meeting, I believe she would be able to determine whether or not the technologies
she used were the correct ones for her unit.
Concept Mapping Software and Social Studies Lesson:
If Miss Martinez asked for assistance in creating a Social Studies lesson that utilized a
technology she used with her previous project, I would suggest that she use concept
mapping software. Concept mapping software is a very useful tool for students of all
ages but with younger students, it offers a concrete example of information flows and is
organized. For example, if she wanted to create a lesson over the Pilgrims and their
voyage from England to America, a concept mapping software would be ideal to show
cause and effect relationships. In the middle could be “The Pilgrims” and the three
topics surrounding them could include “Leaving England”, “Arriving in America” and
“Daily Life.” Students could then read and learn about the pilgrims while completing their
concept maps. The concept maps would help them visually retain the information that
Miss Martinez wants to them know. It can also be fun for all students when they draw
pictures or use clip art instead of using words. This will assist all students in the class
including any of them that have learning disabilities.